Sidewalk sale planned for downtown Friday and Saturday

Business owners reviving long-standing event

After taking a year off, the downtown Hullabaloo sale will return Friday and Saturday.

Most stores will have sidewalk tables out, as well as sales on their indoor merchandise, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, said Marti Rison, co-owner of Oddfellows Fine Books and Collectibles, 116 S.W. 6th.

Some businesses that normally close on Saturdays also elected to stay open, Rison said. For example, HHB BBQ, 720 S. Kansas, will be open, but with a limited menu of pulled pork or brisket sandwiches and sides, she said.

“It’s kind of a summer blow-out,” she said.

Some businesses got started early. Chad Sidesinger, vice president of operations for Wolfe’s Camera, 635 S. Kansas, said they set up a table outside on Thursday to reach more people who work downtown during the week. They also will have items on clearance Friday and Saturday as they make room for newer merchandise, he said.

Lisa Boyd, owner of The Merchant, 913 S. Kansas, said that in addition to having sales, her store will have a photographer taking pictures for shoppers, and a saxophonist will play on Saturday.

Boyd said the annual Hullabaloo sidewalk sale was an important back-to-school event in the 1970s, but it diminished as the center of retail shifted to White Lakes Mall and later West Ridge Mall. They didn’t have one last year, she said, but decided to resurrect it following the success of the First Friday art walks downtown.

“A lot of us business owners have gotten together to put on events together as a neighborhood,” she said.

They decided to call it the Hullabaloo and Construction Too sale this year because of the infrastructure work on the east side of Kansas Avenue, Boyd said. Some east side merchants have still decided to set up their tables in front of their businesses despite the construction, and customers can still reach them via the crosswalks, she said.

“We decided we can’t do anything about (the construction), so let’s embrace it,” she said.

Parking in metered spaces near downtown is free on Saturdays, Rison said, so people who can’t find parking on Kansas Avenue don’t need to worry about bringing quarters. The parking garages also are open, she said.